Chapter 28
The next six weeks were the hardest weeks in Croco's life. Although he could still get up and down the trees with relative ease, he couldn't participate in a lot of the activities that the other young people were doing. He could swim in the lake with the sling, he couldn't swing from the ropes the way he always liked to and he couldn't play a native guitar that he picked up on about a month before the Games started. But the one thing Croco could do was hang out with his friends and play practical jokes, although Melanie frowned on that. Still, he managed to hold on and have much fun as he could while still in the sling.
When his arm was finally healed, Croco was overjoyed because he knew that he could go back to being his regular self. But he had some other ideas for recreation in his mind. While he was still in the sling, he could still use his right arm, his throwing arm. Croco liked to throw a ball that he found through a metal ring which was propped up against one of the dinosaur barns. The ball, which was made from the skin of one of the mammals from the Forbidden Mountains, was slightly bigger than a softball and Croco could throw it pretty hard and it wouldn't break. Now that he was out of the sling, he climbed up into the tree that Darren and Carlos were in with the ball.
"Hey guys," he said, "I've got an idea for a new game. Follow me." He led the two boys to the edge of a field, empty from the harvest. Croco pointed out the ring to them and asked them to try and throw the ball through the ring. They were able to from about forty feet, but when Croco tried it from sixty feet, Darren dove in front of the ring and knocked the ball away. Soon, other boys joined them and they all tried to get the ball by Darren and through the ring, which was four feet high and six feet wide. The amount of fun took Croco by surprise and he began scrounging for another ring. Much to his delight, he found two smaller rings attached to poles that were about six and a half feet long. Croco set them each three feet apart from the larger ring and after putting them in the ground, were about five and a half feet tall.
The word got out and pretty soon most of the boys were trying their hand at this. Croco put an end to it and told them that they needed another set of rings to really make the game interesting. After about a week of trying, they finally got a set of rings identical to the first one. Croco had several boys help him and a couple brachiosaurs decided to help out with the efforts in putting up another wall exactly nine necks from the original set of rings. They were all happy with this and although it took them some time, they were able to put the second set of rings up identical to the first pair.
Now that they knew the field was ready, Croco and Darren went about the difficult task of finding teams. Croco gathered up a lot of his friends that he knew were capable of playing the game well, while Darren rounded up a gang of boys he knew from his hometown of Chandara. When the teams were made up, Croco laid down the rules for the newly created sport: there would be nine players on each side, including one to defend the rings. Players are to only use their hands to touch the ball, and one must bounce the ball before they have taken ten steps in any direction. As far as contact went, one could push but not tackle or trip. After deciding on what rules to make, Croco and Darren took the rule scroll to one of the senior supervisors, and he decided that he would be the head official for the first ever ringball game.
The following weeks saw Croco and Darren frantically preparing for the inaugural match. Between getting their respective teams ready and making their uniforms, that left little time for anything else. Melanie saw this and decided to pay Croco a visit while tending to one of the boys on his team.
"Why are you working so hard just to play a game?" she asked. Croco smiled as she addressed him.
"Because I want this to be a game that all will see and like," he told her. "I want this to be like the baseball or football of Dinotopia...the great pasttime of our land." Melanie sighed and asked him when the first match would take place. According to Croco, it would take place in a couple of weeks when he could train the officials in the rules, as several of the supervisors had volunteered to officiate. Days went by and word got out about the game in Treetown and some of the nearby villages and people wanted to see this new game.
Croco and Darren had completed their uniforms two days before the match date. Croco's team, which was simply called Treetown, were to wear dark green jerseys with white lettering while Darren's Chandara team were wearing aqua jerseys with black lettering. The jerseys themselves were short-sleeved shirts that the boys made themselves with a little assistance from a couple of the girls, including Nalina and Sabrine. The respective ring defenders, called keepers, would be wearing different colored jerseys from their teammates, with the Treetown keeper wearing black with green lettering and the Chandara keeper wearing yellow with dark teal lettering. Tension between both sides grew as the day of the big game drew nearer and nearer and Croco could feel a sense of pride in him because this was his game that they would be playing the next day.
The next six weeks were the hardest weeks in Croco's life. Although he could still get up and down the trees with relative ease, he couldn't participate in a lot of the activities that the other young people were doing. He could swim in the lake with the sling, he couldn't swing from the ropes the way he always liked to and he couldn't play a native guitar that he picked up on about a month before the Games started. But the one thing Croco could do was hang out with his friends and play practical jokes, although Melanie frowned on that. Still, he managed to hold on and have much fun as he could while still in the sling.
When his arm was finally healed, Croco was overjoyed because he knew that he could go back to being his regular self. But he had some other ideas for recreation in his mind. While he was still in the sling, he could still use his right arm, his throwing arm. Croco liked to throw a ball that he found through a metal ring which was propped up against one of the dinosaur barns. The ball, which was made from the skin of one of the mammals from the Forbidden Mountains, was slightly bigger than a softball and Croco could throw it pretty hard and it wouldn't break. Now that he was out of the sling, he climbed up into the tree that Darren and Carlos were in with the ball.
"Hey guys," he said, "I've got an idea for a new game. Follow me." He led the two boys to the edge of a field, empty from the harvest. Croco pointed out the ring to them and asked them to try and throw the ball through the ring. They were able to from about forty feet, but when Croco tried it from sixty feet, Darren dove in front of the ring and knocked the ball away. Soon, other boys joined them and they all tried to get the ball by Darren and through the ring, which was four feet high and six feet wide. The amount of fun took Croco by surprise and he began scrounging for another ring. Much to his delight, he found two smaller rings attached to poles that were about six and a half feet long. Croco set them each three feet apart from the larger ring and after putting them in the ground, were about five and a half feet tall.
The word got out and pretty soon most of the boys were trying their hand at this. Croco put an end to it and told them that they needed another set of rings to really make the game interesting. After about a week of trying, they finally got a set of rings identical to the first one. Croco had several boys help him and a couple brachiosaurs decided to help out with the efforts in putting up another wall exactly nine necks from the original set of rings. They were all happy with this and although it took them some time, they were able to put the second set of rings up identical to the first pair.
Now that they knew the field was ready, Croco and Darren went about the difficult task of finding teams. Croco gathered up a lot of his friends that he knew were capable of playing the game well, while Darren rounded up a gang of boys he knew from his hometown of Chandara. When the teams were made up, Croco laid down the rules for the newly created sport: there would be nine players on each side, including one to defend the rings. Players are to only use their hands to touch the ball, and one must bounce the ball before they have taken ten steps in any direction. As far as contact went, one could push but not tackle or trip. After deciding on what rules to make, Croco and Darren took the rule scroll to one of the senior supervisors, and he decided that he would be the head official for the first ever ringball game.
The following weeks saw Croco and Darren frantically preparing for the inaugural match. Between getting their respective teams ready and making their uniforms, that left little time for anything else. Melanie saw this and decided to pay Croco a visit while tending to one of the boys on his team.
"Why are you working so hard just to play a game?" she asked. Croco smiled as she addressed him.
"Because I want this to be a game that all will see and like," he told her. "I want this to be like the baseball or football of Dinotopia...the great pasttime of our land." Melanie sighed and asked him when the first match would take place. According to Croco, it would take place in a couple of weeks when he could train the officials in the rules, as several of the supervisors had volunteered to officiate. Days went by and word got out about the game in Treetown and some of the nearby villages and people wanted to see this new game.
Croco and Darren had completed their uniforms two days before the match date. Croco's team, which was simply called Treetown, were to wear dark green jerseys with white lettering while Darren's Chandara team were wearing aqua jerseys with black lettering. The jerseys themselves were short-sleeved shirts that the boys made themselves with a little assistance from a couple of the girls, including Nalina and Sabrine. The respective ring defenders, called keepers, would be wearing different colored jerseys from their teammates, with the Treetown keeper wearing black with green lettering and the Chandara keeper wearing yellow with dark teal lettering. Tension between both sides grew as the day of the big game drew nearer and nearer and Croco could feel a sense of pride in him because this was his game that they would be playing the next day.